Monday, February 22, 2010

THOMAS STRUTH

Noted modern-day photographer Thomas Struth (1954 - ) is best known for his detailed cityscapes, Asian jungles and family portraits. His work contributed to establishing photography as a major medium in contemporary art, especially with his large-format color prints. Struth studied under Gerhard Richter and Bernd Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (1973-80), moving from painting to photography and thus becoming part of a new generation of photographers known as the ‘Becher School’. After beginning in 1976 with black-and-white studies of deserted streets, and bird's-eye views of cities such as Düsseldorf, Berlin, Paris, London, Chicago and New York, he turned to color, including peopled street scenes in the Far East. In these cityscapes, with clarity and formal precision, Struth investigates the relationship of individuals with public spaces as sites of a collective unconscious and daily urban existence. This interest in exploring social interaction also informs his ongoing portraits of friends and their families in their private environments. His series of visitors contemplating works of art in museums and religious sites reflect the acts of seeing and representation, and the way we relate to the past and position ourselves in the present. Since the 1990s Struth has also photographed flowers, deserts, and primeval forests as well. Struth’s work can be found at fine galleries and auction houses.